Terminal connecter



Oct. zo, 1925. 1,557,666

C. M. DAVIS TERMINAL CONNEC'LEN` Filed oct. 27,y 919 Patented Cot. 20, 1925. i

' UNITED STATES I 1,557,666 PA'1E1\1TI oFF'cE.d

CHARLES MELVIN DAVIS, or LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

TERMINAL CONNECTER.

Application filed October 27, 1919. Serial' No. 333,680.

To all wit-0m tf/nay concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES MELVIN DAVIS, -a citizen of the United States, and

a resident of. Lynn, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth-- of Massachusetts, have invented a new and-'useful Improvement in Terminal Connecters, of` which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to terminal connecters adapted to be clamped or secured l'to storage battery terminals.

Present-day commercial terminal connecters are adapted to be secured to battery ter minals by wrenches or other tools operating upon nuts or the polygonal heads of bolts situated to one side of the connecter. Owing to the enforced positioning of the wrench or other tool oft' to one side, the tool frequently comes accidentally into contact with several terminals eor binding posts at once, causing a short-circuit and the destruction of the battery. After the nut or bolt becomes loosened, `furthermore, the connecterv can not easily be dislodged from the terminal except by blows from a hammer orby prying the jaws of the connecter open with some instrument, and after vthis is done, it is frequently found that the connecter is no longer suitable for use with termina-ls of the same dimensions, though possibly fitting terminals of larger dimensions.

j The object of the present'invention is to improve the construction of terminal connecters, increasing their durability and efli ciency and reducing their cost of manuacture. x

With this end in view. a, feature of the invention contemplates the provision ofa terminal connecter that shall be adapted to be clamped and unclamped from above the connector instead of from the side, thus eliminatingthe danger of short-circuiting the battery, which may be easily secured to, and removed .fro1'ir,- a terminalfand which shallV be' adapted for use with termin-als of various dimensions. Y

To the attainment of the above-mentioned object, the invention consists of the improved terminal connecter .hereinafter described, illustrated in the drawings and defined in the appendedclaim. A A

f .In the accompanyingdrawings, Fig. 1 is a plan View 'of aportion of a battery equippedwiththe improved terminal connecter, constituting the subject matter of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of the terminal connecter, shown clamped to a battery terminalg-Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the terminal connecter; and ligs. 4, 5 and 6 are side views of modifica- -t1ons.'

` The invention is shown in Fig. 1 in its preferred form as secured to a terminal or inding post 2 of a storage battery 4 having, besides theterminal 2, binding posts 6 connected by connecting bars 8. The'connecter comprises a longitudinally extending body conducting member 10 having an opening 11 a wall of which constitutes an outer terminalengaging jaw 12 and an inner cam or wedge face 14, and a conducting member 16 mov# able relatively to the body member and having an inner terminal-engaging jaw 18 and an outer cam or wedge face 20. The jaws 12 and`18 will hereinafter be referred'to as cylindrical, using the term in the sense that storage-battery terminals, as ordinarily con structed, are cylindrical.- Relative movement of the members in aline at. right anglesJ to the jaws 12 and 18 is effected through the operation of a wrench orot ler tool upon a polygonal head 22 provided-'upon a screwvthreaded member 26 near the tace 24 of the is mounted in an opening 28 o f,tl1e body member 10 and in an elongated opening 30 provided in the member 16 and, 'registering with the opening 28. The screw-threaded member may be a screw screwed into the body member, as shown in Fig. 5, in which event the head 22 may be a separate nut, or the head and screw may be integral, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, or the head 22 of Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive may be slotted to provide for its operation by a screw driver, as shown in Fig. 6, or any ot'her equivalent means may be employed for effecting the relative movement of the members 10 and 16. The head 22, by pressing in upon the face 24 of the member 16, causes a movement of the member 16 towards the body member 10,` the wedge faces 14 and 20 cooperatively engagingfto move the jaw 18 toward the jaw. 12, such movement being permitted by the free play of the screwthreaded member 26 in the elongated opendanger of the tool accidentally eomingfinto contact with the binding posts 6 or the connecters 8 While electrically connected to the terminal 2, thereby short-circuiting the battery, is thus eliminated. Upon the head 1`= 22 becoming loosened, furthermore, the

member 16 may be readily lifted away from vthe body member 10, avoiding the necessity of hammering the .connecter oit the terminal or prying-the terminal-engaging jaws 12 and 18 open with an instrument. By reason of the nature of the wedge or cam faces 14 and 20, the jaws 12 and 18 may be caused to engage snugly terminals of various sizes,

The connecter .is provided -with a socket 34 adapted to receive a conductor. The socket may extend longitudinally, as illustrated in Fig. 4, or at an angle to the body member, as shown in Figs.` 1 and 2. The construction of Figs. 1 and 2 lends itself further to the prevention of short circuits, inasmuch as it renders it possible to lead conductors to the terminal longitudinally of the battery while maintainingthe connecter at right angles thereto, or at any. other angle such that the connecter is reasonably far removed from the binding posts 6. A, What is claimed as new is A storage-battery connecter comprising two conducting members between which a storage-battery terminal is adapted to be clamped; the two conducting members being separate and distinct one from the other to permit lifting one of the conductingA members away from the other conducting member and thereby release the storage-battery tcrminalwithout hammering the connecter or pryingthe connecter away from the storof the two conductinglmembers into clamping engagement wit the storage-battery terminal; the clamping walls of the jaws' extending at right angles to the direction of relative sliding movement of the conducting members; 'the said other conducting member having anopening that is elongated in the direction' of relative sliding movement of the jaws and that is situated to one side of the clamping jaws; the said one conducting member having a screw-threaded opening registering with the elongated opening; and a screw-threaded member mounted in .the elongated opening, and screw-threaded into the screw-threaded openin and provided with a polygonal head a apted to be,engaged by a wrench to e'ect 'the said relative sliding' movement of the conducting members into clamping engagement with the storagefbattery termina v j vIn testimony whereof( I have hereunto subscribed my name this twenty-fourth day A'of October, 1919.

cHARLEs MELVIN DAVIS. 

